Have Guitar Will Travel

Two Guys Known For Playing Solos, Don't Fare So Well On Their Own...

Mick Taylor

When McLaine Stevenson and Shelly Long left M*A*S*H* and Cheers respectively to join the "What The Hell Was I Thinking" club, they were greeted at the door by Mick Taylor, former guitarist for The Rolling Stones.

Taylor left The Stones in 1974. Walking out on the Stones in'74 would be like LEAVING THE STONES IN 1974! Why leave a dream job with a band with tons of street credibility? No song writing credits. Taylor wrote songs on "Let It Bleed" and "It's Only Rock And Roll" but the album credits went to Jagger/Richards. Taylor told Jagger he was leaving the band at a party, and the last they saw of him was the back of his shoe.

After playing around with Paul Butterfield and Alvin Lee, Taylor put out a self titled album in 1979. Refusing to give in to the Disco or New Wave trends, he put out a subdued Rock and Blues record that the critics liked but no one bought. The albums opening track
"Leather Jacket" still got some spins on FM rock radio. The song shows a sharp contrast to the Rolling Stones sound at the time, but ironically foreshadowing the hit "Waiting On A Friend" (recorded years earlier) on "Tattoo You" featuring Mick Taylor on guitar.



Joe Perry


Pour drugs, egos and women into a tour bus. Shake. What comes out? Joe Perry.

Joe Perry was lead guitarist, writer and focal point for Aerosmith for most of the Seventies. Things came to a head though in 1979 backstage at a stadium concert when one of the other band member's wives threw milk at Perry's wife (why was there MILK backstage at an Aerosmith concert?). It was at that point that Perry had enough and hit the bricks.

Perry already had a cache of songs written, so after putting a band together, they went into the studio with Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas and recorded "Let The Music Do The Talking". With a title like that the music better have some swagger...and swagger it had, plus a raw live sound and lots of Joe Perry riffs.

The album made the top 50 thanks to the strength of the title track (later done as a note for note remake upon Perry's return to Aerosmith) and additional radio airplay of
"Discount Dogs" . But with line up changes in the middle of the tour,  coupled with uneven record company promotion, the band fell between the cracks. 2 unheralded albums followed and the band dissolved eventually leading Perry back to Aerosmith, the Super Bowl, and BBQ sauce.
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